Links
THEME
PARKS IN SO CAL
| These are the big three theme parks in So
Cal; I did not put Universal Studios or Disneyland in here
as they really do not qualify to me as "coaster"
parks. I will have a separate section for other theme parks
in So Cal in the future. |
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Knott's
Berry Farm-although this website wins my award for "least
frequently updated website of the year", it is your official
source of information for the park. I admit, Knott's is one
of my favorites as they have three out of my top five coasters,
the atmosphere is great, and they beat Magic Mountain for
food hands down. They are also close enough that I can go
there more often and have the best Halloween event of any
of the theme parks. |
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Six
Flags Magic Mountain-if you want to bypass the infectiously
catchy theme song by the Vengaboys and the animation of the
dancing Mr. Six, just click "Park Info". As far
as coasters go, this place has the biggest selection and the
most. As far as atmosphere, although the landscaping and location
are nice, a lot of things need work, and I'm sorry, but the
food service is atrocious; I have yet to have a positive culinary
experience at this park. However, they have the other two
coasters in my top 5, X and Scream. |
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Disney's
California Adventure-Disneyland is not to me a "coaster"
park (although they have some fun coaster type rides), and
this is intended to be a mostly roller coaster website. California
Adventure is not really a coaster or thrill park either, but
they do have two decent coaster rides that are worth a spin,
even if the "thrills" are a little watered down.
Disney and California Adventure are great parks, just not
enough extreme thrill rides for my personal taste. Still can
be a lot of fun though. |
OTHER GREAT THEME PARKS OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA
| These are a few theme parks outside of California
I have visited; these are not all of them, but these are the
ones that really stood out as having a great collection of
rides and that offered an overall good experience. |
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Silver
Dollar City-this is not the biggest theme park, nor do
they have the biggest selection of rides, but as far as atmosphere,
food, attention to detail and offering a "family"
park experience that offers something for the thrillseekers
in the family as well as the younger ones, these guys have
it down. Not a lot of coasters, but some great ones (Wildfire,
Thunderation and the newest one, Powder Keg) and the setting
is about as beautiful as you will get for a theme park. As
far as parks deisgned with the whole family in mind go, I
think this park does it better than the Disney Parks do. |
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Six
Flags Great America-haven't been there in a very long
time, but in that time the park has only gotten better. This
park serves the Windy City as well as Milwaukee, and offers
a fantastic selection of coasters as well as decent theming
and a free waterpark, if you're into that sort of thing. Even
though it is over 20 years old, The Demon is still a great
steel coaster and this park was also where the famous "Batman"
coaster had its first installation. I really want to get back
here and get a ride in on the Raging Bull, as it looks to
be great. |
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Worlds
Of Fun-owned by the people who own Knott's, Cedar Point
and Dorney Park, this is a park I remember fondly from my
high school days. Unfortunately, two awesome coasters have
been taken out of the park in recent years (and since I have
been there)-the Zambezi Zinger and the Orient Express. That
being said, they still have some great rides and are said
to be adding a huge new coaster in the coming two years. In
the days when I did water parks, I used to spend many hours
at the adjacent Oceans of Fun park as well. |
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OTHER COASTER SITES
| These are websites for those into coasters
and theme parks; some are diehard enthusiasts, some are rumor
mills for new rides, and some are just groups of people who
are not hardcore enthusiasts but just love the rides, and
some are all of the above. |
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Westcoaster
-my favorite of all the coaster and amusement park themed
sites I frequent. Not only that, a very cool bunch of people.
I post on the boards as Jhcbiinoc, and have been to a few
of their meets and events. Real people with a sense of humor. |
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RideWorld-I
just joined recently, and am glad I did. In addition to a
very reasonable annual membership, there is a lot to see here
and have met Chris, who runs the site, really nice guy. RideWorld
put together the excellent West Coast Bash in March at SFMM. |
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Coaster
Realm Network-Good site, and several of the people who
run and work on it were cool enough to let me hang out with
them at the most recent Coaster Solace. Cool photo updates
with a definite sense of humor. |
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